Getting tagged to talk about the Vice Presidential debate for Citizen Voices presented a bit of a challenge.  What to look for, and what to comment on, in a debate between two people that I don't want to be elected for an office that has little significance other than being the constitutional equivalent of a spare tire.  

Unfortunately that analogy really works for how I view the two major party candidates this year.  On the one hand, we have the old retread who got thrown in the trunk in case he's got a little more life in him.  Functional and tested (and not completely bald), but with three good high-performance whitewalls screaming 'change' as you round the corner at personal-best speeds, using him just kinda blows the image, if not the performance.

On the other hand, you've got the little doughnut tire the manufacturer throws in the car when they're being cheap and saving space.  Untested, but it looks slick.  It'll work, as long as you stay below 45 mph and don't drive in rain, sleet, hail, fog, haze or bright daylight and can get a real tire back on that wheel within a day or two.

Ideally, you never have to use either of them, but realistically you need to have one of them in the trunk ready to go.

Professional pundits and those whose opinions carry weight in nationally respected publications have speculated whether Barack Obama's choice of vice president in Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware) will connect with voters. Here are a few reasons why I think Obama made a good decision:

1. In choosing Joe Biden, the 2008 Democratic nominee wipes out two previous election cycles' worth of poor choices, i.e., Joe Lieberman, (Lie-berman) emphasis on the "lie" he embodies as a traitor to Democrats and to the values he supposedly brought to Al Gore's campaign; and even John Edwards who, although a strong candidate in and of himself, was not a well-suited intellectual or dispositional match with John Kerry. Senator Biden's temperament matches Obama's as being a well-spoken fighter who's as smart as he is loyal to his Democratic roots.


2. Joe Biden is a better choice for undecided voters than Hillary Clinton.  While pure speculation, maybe independent voters have not staked their claims in Senator Obama fearing the talking points from McCain's camp are true: Obama is too young, inexperienced, untested politically, etc...  Joe Biden deadens those arguments because of his nearly forty year history in the Senate.  Plus, anyone repelled by the Democratic Party because of the Clintons' own history (both before and during this presidential race) won't have to hold their noses at voting both Democratic and casting a ballot for a Clinton.  As for Democrats wishing for an Obama-Clinton ticket, all I can say is, Hillary and Bill Clinton made the divisive bed they're in.  Down goes "Operation Chaos."


3. Joe Biden's working class roots come through when he speaks, despite his coordinating silk ties and high-end business suits.  Although he speaks eloquently, and often for extended periods, he connects with listeners who need to hear something substantial from a politician.  In other words, Biden doesn't wear the "elite" intellectual or "celebrity" mantles that Obama gets saddled with even while Biden's mind sparkles.


4. His uncomplicated, straightforward and clear manner of speaking about foreign policy affairs, especially about the Middle East.  He knows the difference between the Sunni and Shia Iraqi tribes.  He can help you and I understand why it matters.  He is down-to-earth about big issues without dumbing it down, and how many intellectuals can do that?  Further, his son, Joseph Robinette "Beau" Biden III, will be deployed to Iraq on October 3rd.  How many sitting senators have a more active stake in finding resolution to the Iraqi quagmire than a father saying goodbye to his son?One might think a father like McCain would have a similar stake, as his son Jimmy served in Iraq, but apparently he wouldn't mind seeing them stay in the Middle East for another 100 years.  Call me nuts, but Biden's approach to the war makes more sense in every way, including on the level of being a father.

He's the right man for the job.  Like many others this week who have already said as much, Senator Barack Obama has made a wise, politically savvy choice in Joe Biden.